(Project Dropped) Before The Eclipse
by Shispanic
Summary: 10,000 dragons have emerged from the Eclipse Gate and the city of Crocus has been destroyed. In the middle of all the destruction lies Lucy Heartfilia. Having lost everything she is prepared to die, but one thing keeps her going, Natsu Dragneel. The two continue to fight in hopes of seeing their friends again. WARNING: Strong Language and Violence.[This project has been dropped.]


**Author's Note: This series takes place in the alternate future, when the 10,000 dragons were released from Eclipse. It will follow Lucy up until she enters the Eclipse Gate and returns to the past. I hope you enjoy this piece, but this length will only be for the first chapter, the other's won't be nearly this long. Thank You for taking the time to read and hopefully you'll leave a review so I can continue to improve.**

"They're all gone. I couldn't save any of them. It's all over now." Lucy cried as she voiced the reality of the situation to herself. She still couldn't believe that the burning ruins she was laying in were once the capital of Fiore. As she contemplated what she was going to do next she looked to the sky, where 10,000 dragons were continuing their assault on the destroyed city.

"What's the point anymore…" She continued to quietly cry as she waited for the end. There were just too many, even if all the remaining mages worked together they couldn't hope to destroy this army of dragons. She looked up to see a single dragon hovering just over 100 yards away, staring at her, and at the same time looking past her. She wiped away the tears, and stared back, glaring at the dragon just as it glared at her.

"Do it, fucking end me!" she screamed. As if the dragon understood her, it roared and let out a stream of immense fire. The heat was so hot that it felt like her skin may just melt right off her body. She closed her eyes, and waited for her life to end, for her to finally be reunited with all of the friends she had lost.

But it never came. She didn't die from the fire. Instead that boy appeared. He was always there to save her, even in the darkest moments. Natsu Dragneel, that pink-haired devil had eaten the flames the dragon spewed and was staring daggers at the dragon.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Lucy." he wiped his lips with his right hand and took a step toward the dragon sticking out his right shoulder. "Do you know who I am?" he screamed at the dragon, "I'm Natsu Dragneel, son of Igneel and a Fairy Tail wizard. I'm going to end you right here and now, and then I'm going to kill all of your friends." As Natsu finished the dragon landed and let out a roar towards the blood red sky.

"Natsu… please, we can't hope to win…" Lucy spoke so quietly that Natsu almost couldn't hear her.

"Don't say that. All of our friends are waiting for us, and it's our responsibility to come back to them." He stared at his hand and slowly tightened it into a fist, as if he were trying to tightly grasp something. Even in the most hopeless of situations, he still refused to submit, he still refused to give up, and most of all, he refused to lose to any enemy.

"Natsu…" Lucy stared at him as the tears returned once again, "I believe in you." Natsu didn't say anything. He continued staring at his fist and a slight grin slid across his face. His fist burst into flames and he lept from the spot, screaming as he charged towards the dragon. It was time for their counter attack.

"You can't push yourself like that…" Lucy said as she helped Natsu stand, "We won't stand a chance if you don't pace yourself a little." He had won, Natsu had finally killed a dragon, but it didn't change the reality that there were 9,999 more dragons for them to kill.

"I can't stop yet, there' still a lon… ugh" he looked as if he were going to fall over and pass out. Even that one fight had taken almost all of his magic power and he hadn't come out unscathed. Blood dripped from where the dragon had slashed at his lower calf and he was struggling to stand, even with Lucy supporting him.

"It's okay, we're not giving up, but you can't fight like this. I'm going to get you somewhere safe." She spoke the words with confidence, but inside Lucy didn't know what was going to happen next. She began to drag him towards the ruins of Mercurius. The castle that had once cast a looming shadow over all of Crocus was now nothing more than a mere husk of it's once former glory. Even though the castle had fallen she knew that the massive set of catacombs beneath the castle would still be intact and that the dragons could not attack them if they were below ground. walking was slow with Natsu, he didn't seem to be able to support his own weight so Lucy had to move around any large debris and did her best to stay out of the dragon's line of sight.

After about an hour a darting between cover they reached the ruins of the castle and found an entrance to the catacombs. As they trudged deep beneath Crocus they knew that the dragons were continuing to destroy Fiore. Who was left, what was going to happen next, how long were they going to last. All these thoughts rushed through Lucy's mind, but she couldn't seem to think of any answers to these questions.

" Someone… help me…" a voice whispered. It was weak and creaky, but Natsu and Lucy both heard it clearly.

"Is someone out there?"

"Natsu? please… help me…"

"It came from over there…" Natsu said as he pointed towards a large pile of rubble. Beneath the ruins laid a young girl with blue hair. She seemed to be having problems breathing and wasn't moving.

"Wendy… Wendy, can you hear me?"

"Natsu, is that you?" She spoke hoarsely and didn't open her eyes. "I can't see anything, and I'm having problems breathing the air. What's happening?"

"It's me Wendy. Everything is going to be okay now. Don't worry, we're going to get you out of there. Lucy help me get that rubble off her." Natsu stopped leaning on Lucy and winced in pain, but did not stop. He crouched down and put all his force into lifting up the large column that laid on top of her. Lucy also crouched down and the two of them attempted to lift it, but both were tired and weak.

"It's too heavy Natsu, we have to find another way." She stopped trying and Natsu fell over in exhaustion.

"We can't give up… not yet… we're… all… going back… together." Between each word he was gasping for air.

"It's okay Natsu and Lucy. Hearing your voices one more time is enough, leave me." Wendy smiled.

"Not going to happen." Lucy said as she choked back tears." I will save you." She pulled out one of the golden keys that were at her side, "Open Gate of the Bull, Taurus." As she called out the spirit's name a golden flash of light filled the catacombs and a large Cow with an axe appeared.

"Lucy, what's happening in the human world, the Celestial Spirit world is in udder chaos." Taurus seemed panicked as he blurted out his words.

"Not now Taurus, I need you help. Please lift that column off of Wendy."

"Anything for you Lucy." Taurus quickly lifted the column off of Wendy and Natsu pulled her out from the rest of the rubble.

"Are you okay, can you breath now?" Natsu pulled her close to his chest and Lucy breathed a sigh of relief"

"Thank you so much Natsu and Lucy. I can breath the air now, but it is tainted with smoke and ash, did something happen." Wendy respond in a slightly stronger voice, but she still did not open her eyes

" Yes, Lucy, what has happened in the human world?" Taurus asked anxiously.

"There are 10,000 dragons currently loose in Fiore. As far as we can tell almost all of Crocus has been destroyed and they are currently spreading across the country destroying everything." Lucy said. Saying it out loud it sounded outrageous to herself, but because she had seen it with her own eyes she couldn't hope to deny the truth.

"That's terrible, is there anyone left…" Wendy choked out.

"We didn't see anyone, but we can't give up hope yet. I know that they're out there somewhere, waiting for us, still fighting to see tomorrow." Natsu sounded so confident when he spoke, even though he had no idea what was going to happen he still sounded like the future was one bright and happy place.

" , we may have a problem." Taurus spoke, his words shaking as he spoke, "If what you've said is true, we celestial spirits may be in danger." As he spoke, his body glimmered a little and his arm began to fade into a golden dust.

"Taurus, what's happening to you?" Lucy said as she reached out to grab where his arm had been.

"Our worlds are connected, if the human world is in chaos then the celestial world will begin to deteriorate. If you can't stop those dragons we'll all disappear." As Tarsus continued to fade into the golden dust his key also began to disappear, "It's too late for me, but you can still save the other spirits. I beg you, please keep them safe, and only call on them if you absolutely need them."

"Taurus… please" Lucy began to cry again. "You can't leave, you're my friend."

"It's okay Miss Lucy, Celestial Spirits don't die, we just go back to being another star in the sky." He grinned and looked at Lucy with a kind look. "So get a mooove on, and help our friends." With those final words he disappeared into the darkness of the catacombs, leaving Natsu, Wendy, and Lucy alone in the darkness.

"I promise you Taurus," She clenched her hand in a fist where Taurus' key had once been, "I will save them."


End file.
